Data transfer systems are configured to transmit user data in a fast and efficient manner. In a data storage device, the data are generally transferred to one or more non-volatile storage media, such as rotatable magnetic recording discs accessed by a corresponding array of data transducers. In a communication system, the data are generally transferred across a link, network or other communication path to a receiving unit.
An interface circuit can be configured to temporarily buffer transfer data in volatile memory, such as DRAM, pending transfer to the associated downstream block. For example, in a data storage device the data can be buffered to schedule an access operation with the transducers and media to subsequently transfer the buffered data to the media.
While operable, as requirements for data integrity continue to increase, there remains a continual need for improvements in the manner in which data are transferred to a downstream block, and it is to these and other improvements that preferred embodiments of the present invention are generally directed.